Day: February 10, 2009

I went back to El Camino Real last weekend. I just couldn’t help myself. While I sampled some of my favorite appetizers from the last visit (fried pickles, stuffed jalepenos) I also tried the vegetarian wings, which were so inceadible – juicy and crispy and spicy – they could make any meat-eater forget the difference. I also order the Chili Rellanos (above) a chili stuffed with seitan, cheese, and vegetables, served on a bed of black beans with a tomatillo salsa. It was very satisfying, with a subtle smokey flavor. I wished there were two chilis so I would have had one to take home!

BBQ Seitan Sandwich

My friend Krista ordered the BBQ Seitan sandwich with both the sweet and the spicy dipping sauces and was quite pleased. After that big Texas toast sandwich and slaw, it was difficult to make it through the pile of fries, though with all that extra dipping sauce, I “helped” by sneaking a few off her plate and dunking them deep in the spicy sauce.

Burritos

Senor Lanky ordered the burritos, “two little donkeys.” He briefly considered saving one for lunch the next day, and then promptly ate both. He ordered his with carnitas, but our friend Steve ordere the grilled seitan (another vegetarian option is the cactus and potato)and they looked identical!

I am so in love with the whole-grain rolls from Metropolitan Bakery, I want to sing about it. They have all kinds of delicious texture, and an almost nutty flavor, and go well with all of may favorite sandwich toppings. I found out that I can order these rolls bulk from the main Metro bakery, so I ordered 5 dozen and made a whole spread of mini sandwiches for a reception at work. The above sandwich is a multi-grain roll with a healthy smear of goat cheese, a slice of roasted red pepper, a leaf of fresh basil, and some juicey balsamic-marinated, roasted, baby portobello mushrooms.

These little sourdough cutie rolls are also delicious. Who am I kidding? All the Metropolitan bread is delicious. I made these sandwiches with the roasted red pepper sandwich sauce from Bittmans How to Cook Everything (the basic, not vegetarian version of the cookbook) and added slices of mozzarella and grilled eggplant.

Sandwich-making spread

Above is a photo of the assembly-line spread I set-up for my sandwich making helpers. Look at all those delicious ingreadiants. Makes me want to reach right into a photo and grab a roll.